Gaza, MINA – Israeli soldiers have disclosed that Palestinian civilians were killed in Gaza under the direction or approval of army officers, exposing a collapse of legal and military norms during Israel’s two-year war on the besieged enclave, according to Anadolu Agency.
“If you want to shoot without restraint, you can,” said Daniel, an Israeli tank unit commander, in a documentary set to air Monday on the UK’s ITV.
Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed more than 69,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children and injured over 170,000, rendering Gaza uninhabitable.
Several soldiers, some speaking anonymously, revealed that Palestinian civilians were used as human shields, according to The Guardian.
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Captain Yotam Vilk, an armored corps officer, said troops did not follow the army’s traditional standard of opening fire only when a target had the “means, intent and ability” to cause harm.
“There’s no such thing as ‘means, intent and ability’ in Gaza,” he said. “It’s just suspicion, someone walking where it’s not allowed.”
Another soldier, identified as Eli, said decisions over life and death depended on the personal judgment of field commanders.
“Life and death isn’t determined by procedures or opening fire regulations. It’s the conscience of the commander on the ground that decides,” he said.
Eli recounted an incident in which an officer ordered a tank to demolish a building simply because a man was “hanging laundry,” killing and injuring multiple civilians.
The documentary also presents testimonies of unprovoked Israeli fire on civilians running toward food handouts at militarized aid distribution points operated by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
A contractor named Sam said he witnessed Israeli soldiers shooting two unarmed men approaching aid.
“They drop onto their knees, take two shots, and you could just see two heads snap backwards and drop,” he said.
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Sam also described a tank destroying “a normal car… just four normal people sat inside it.”
According to UN figures, at least 944 Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israeli fire near aid points.
The film documents rising extremist rhetoric inside Israel, with some rabbis and politicians framing all Palestinians as legitimate targets after Oct. 7.
“You hear that all the time, so you start to believe it,” Daniel said.
Also Read: Israeli Restrictions Still Blocking Aid to Gaza One Month Into Ceasefire
Rabbi Avraham Zarbiv, who spent over 500 days in Gaza, defended the army’s large-scale destruction of homes, calling Gaza “one big terrorist infrastructure.”
In September, a UN commission concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, where a ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10 after two years of Israeli bombardment.
“I feel like they’ve destroyed all my pride in being an Israeli, in being an IDF officer,” Daniel says in the program. “All that’s left is shame.”[]
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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